Mental slavery: Strongest link in chain of enslavement

Dr Rita Pemberton

IN HIS very popular Redemption Song, released in 1980, the perceptive reggae singer Bob Marley issued a challenge to the descendants of enslaved Africans to emancipate themselves. At that time, it was clear that the process of emancipation had been incomplete, as had been mentioned earlier by Marcus Garvey in 1937.

Even after being raised twice before, this matter remains one of concern in present-day Caribbean societies. Part of the problem may well be that there is no common understanding of what precisely is mental slavery.

Plantation life in Tobago and the rest of the Caribbean was based on a web of political, legal, economic and social relations which were powered by both the anticipated profits of the enterprise and fear of what would happen if the necessary precautions were not taken.

Hence, to the ruling class, it was of utmost importance to ensure the labour force of enslaved Africans was brought under their owners' absolute control. To this end, there was a barrage of laws which were intended to prevent resistance and enforce African submission to the dehumanisation that was the system of enslavement in the Caribbean.

It must be noted that enslavement was a part of the system of European colonisation, which was organised for permanence, since the imperial powers expected to remain in control of the rest of the world forever.

Consequently, slave societies were governed by a two-part system in which laws and regulatory provisions constituted but one part of the armoury used to enforce compliance with the brutal regime of plantation life – the physical.

The other part, which would effectively serve the desires of the colonisers, was mental slavery.

Mental slavery constitutes the most potent part of enslavement because of its invisibility in written laws and regulations, despite their contribution to its impact. In addition, mental enslavement is the most enduring part of the process, because it can become ingrained in thought processes, accepted by its victims, shape attitudes for generations and facilitate the continued impact of colonisation into the post-colonial era.

Mental slavery is the acceptance of inferiority based on race and colour on one hand and the acceptance of European superiority on the other. One of the planks on which colonial rule justified itself was the notion that Africans were inferior peoples and therefore must be exposed to what was called the civilising and Christianising mission.

In this process, everything African was considered debased, unacceptable and to be stamped out of African behaviour by law or other means. The fact is that this was a part of a deliberate process of African identity-removal which, if not corrected, would remain for generations.

Plantation practice endorsed the notion of black inferiority. The light-skinned offspring of planter abuse of enslaved females created a mixed population, some of whose positions demonstrated the social benefits of colour. Coloured enslaved people were given less arduous tasks and more privileged positions on some estates.

Schools also played a part. Before emancipation, schooling was designed to teach inferiority by exposure to the ways of the superior race, and based on sections of the Bible which emphasised obedience and acceptance, by the so-called inferior peoples, of their role in life.

After emancipation, the social status of the two groups was emphasised. Seating in the churches placed whites in the front rows and Africans at the back, and the separation continued in death, for the burial spaces reserved for whites were in the churchyards, while those for the African population were not always identifiable.

The impact of mental enslavement was best demonstrated in post-emancipation and postcolonial societies. During the post-emancipation era, learning in schools focused on the achievements of Europeans, and nothing was taught about the colonies and their people, and of course nothing of Africa, which was said to be a dark continent with no history.

Social mobility in free society was assessed by the level of movement away from things African. The upwardly mobile were made anxious to demonstrate this movement by their acceptance of European foodways and rejection of what were considered "poor people" food, traditional health care practices and African languages, and distanced themselves from African cultural practices which were frowned upon by the churches.

People known to continue African practices were deprived of the facilities offered by the churches and the schools they set up. Thus it was established that opportunities for education for children of African descent were tied to the abandonment of their African ancestral traditions.

Mental enslavement is best demonstrated in self-hate when, because the concept of beauty was determined by the European model and it is believed that a black person cannot be beautiful, some people think they are "too black." Some preferred to deny their African lineage and cling to any speck of European connection, even if it came from a rapist white planter or manager.

Mental slavery is also demonstrated by the expectation and acceptance of Europeans in leadership roles in all spheres of life. This creates insecurity based on the misinformation that the brains of white people are larger than those of other groups. This has been shown to be scientifically inaccurate and demonstrated to be untrue by the contributions to knowledge and advancement that have been made by Africans.

In the colonised world, short, kinky hair was not considered a beauty asset. The prevailing maxim was “your hair is your beauty,” and short kinky hair meant no beauty. Desirable hair was long, soft and curly. Hence, in their search for beauty, black women straightened their hair and put themselves through the torture of hot combs, which, not occasionally, scalded their scalps, and put their hair in curlers, which made sleep rather uncomfortable. These fetishes also served to create a large market for skin-lightening creams, with their health risks, and hair-straightening products, all of which were made in Europe and provided new opportunities for Europeans to profit from trade in the colonies.

As another milestone in the passage of the Emancipation Act approaches, it is appropriate to pay close attention to the observations of Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley, love ourselves, put more thought into our actions, break the chain and “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery/None but ourselves can free our minds.”